Two Hearts
by Sapphire-Amethyst
Summary: Hearts are clean to begin with. They only become dirty because of experience. [A remake.]
1. Prologue

This was a YGO fic that got deleted because of my lack of discipline. Remade it, and I hope it's better now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, only Lesta and a few other characters.

Prologue:

_The sun, at this place, cast a rather soft ray of sunshine, compared to the desert or the city. He saw her there, sitting beneath the shadows of a tropical tree, her head on her crossed arms that were above her knees. Her strange yet beautiful eyes that were of color black, an unusual eye color, stared solemnly at the big body of water in front of them both. A silent breeze rustled the trees and bushes and rippled the water. It even played with his friend's long black hair, swaying it and reminding him of the soft, silk cover he usually wrapped himself with on his bed when he didn't want to go out of his chambers. Once again, she reminded him of good memories. _

_He was overjoyed to see her there; the oasis provided him a peaceful place away from all the problems and teachings he underwent daily at the Court; but, seeing her was more than enough to ease away his exhaustion, erasing it completely. _

_The oasis was paradise. But with her in it, it was heaven. He wanted to just stand there, savoring the view that was in front of him. __  
_  
The Prince opened his eyes to reveal a sight only familiar to the one he just recalled. He was in the same place as the last time he came here. In the same place as she was before was the girl he spent so much time watching. The same wind blew, the same trees and bushes rustled, and there it was…the same big body of water called lake. Nothing in the oasis had changed, but the two of them did.

"You're here…" the girl muttered and stood up to face him. She wasn't wearing the same dirty-white dress she wore before, the last time they met here, but was now wearing a cloak, and within, the Prince knew, was the clothes of a thief. She wasn't holding the necklace she gave him last time they met here, but in each hand was a dagger. She was no more wearing a look of joy, but was rather wearing a look of loathing.

The Prince clenched his teeth. "I have no intention to fight you, Lesta."

"I do." That answer would have sounded much more welcoming and pleasant if she said it at another place…

There was a silent pause as the Prince, for what he swore was the last time he'd go to this place, drank in every sight he saw, every sound he heard, and every sensation he felt. And, with a voice that he was afraid was cracking, he muttered, "If you wish…"

Unknowingly, as the fight started, two hearts, both that had been clean to start with, and now stained by their own experiences, thought of the same thing…

_How did it come to this…?_


	2. The Girl

A/N: Chapter one, folks. Quite long, if I may say so myself. This was supposed to be longer than it really is now, but I thought that maybe it was too much, so I'm moving the next part to the next chapter. Must be influenced by Charles Dickens. Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I just own Lesta and the other things that were not seen in the anime and manga.

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Chapter 1: The Girl

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The sun beat down hard upon the yellow sands of the marketplace, heating up the grounds which were imprinted with the soles of slippers that pressed on the grains. The wearers of those slippers hustled to and fro, carrying various packages and containers, sometimes dropping fish, sometimes vegetables, sometimes fruit, sometimes clothing, and sometimes other miscellaneous items. Spots where water had been accidentally blessed on were of a dark mocha color, temporarily storing the reminder that they had been once cooled in the span of their existence there. Shouts and yells of commands and customer calls filled the air, providing no area of silence and peace in that place.

It was the central market of Egypt, located at Memphis, and one of the busiest marketplaces in the world at that time. It was situated near the Nile River, providing the fishermen small distances to travel after having caught their goods that were to be sold. The river itself was crowded; filled with floating eyes and snapping jaws, it hid using its muddiness the river's most famous inhabitants from careless onlookers and riverside strollers, endangering them with the pains of canines that were three to five inches long.

Around the marketplace was the city of Memphis itself, still a bustling place, if not busier than the market. Children and mothers swept the floors of their homes, poured water into their water storages, or simply hung about, eating or talking or playing. Idle moms gossiped about each other; energetic children tagged one another; pets chased their owners; and fathers simply sat and talked about everyday problems and solutions.

In the higher places of society, the upper class of citizens were in the palace, drinking and eating whatever they desired at the tables of the royal family, the maidens more possible to be seen by the safest banks of the river within the palace grounds, giggling and talking. Servants went to these visitors every second, asking what they wished and making sure they were comfortable in their stay. They would either simply nod their approval or tell of what was wanting. And then the servants, in a hurry to please their masters and mistresses, would scurry off to either do some other chore or meet to the needs of the guests.

All this happened before the eyes of the eleven-year-old Egyptian prince, whose amethyst eyes dully roamed over the great city of Memphis, a bored sigh escaping his lips. He was leaning upon the edge of his balcony, unwilling to join the guests at the dining room yet knowing that sooner or later he would be called in by his guardian or one of the priests. He would rather go outside and see what the citizens were going on about, and maybe even play with kids his own age, but eleven years of existence proved that he was not ordinary enough to even take one step out past the gates without a guardian.

And it made his life dull, if not annoying.

Of course there already were kids his age at home. However, the rich ones were too snotty for him to bear while the rest, more specifically Mana and Mahaad, were sometimes too preoccupied with their own duties and obligations to spend some time with him. That left most of his time that was not dedicated to training or studying to strolling the hallways and gardens, with the servants unwilling to get into an informal conversation with him. It was time poorly spent and enough to drive anyone crazy; he had people all around him, and yet he was still alone.

A knock on the door of his bedroom brought him out of his musings. Atem sighed once more and straightened up, knowing he would be scolded if he was caught slouching over the balcony instead of finishing with his hair and accessories; he had already shooed his servants off with a reminder that they should not tell they had left him unfinished. "Who is it?"

"Prince!" was the reply of a voice whose owner the boy recognized as Siamun and which sent him shivering in alarm, as the owner was also his caretaker. "You were supposed to be at the lunch two hours ago! What is taking you so long?!"

All formalities were wiped away from the boy's face as he shot back to his room to finish dressing up. And not a second too late, too, because just a moment later, as he was now pretending that he was still fussing over his hair, the door slammed open with such force Atem thought it had been kicked. However, the elder man that was standing by the threshold was actually extending his right fist before he resumed his formal but now irritated poise, his head turning so that he was now glaring at the mirror, right into the young prince's reflected amethyst eyes.

A gulp stealthily made its way down his throat as he turned from the mirror with a trained look of confusion on his face. "What do you mean, what's taking me so long?" he asked in the middle of combing his hair. "Don't you see I'm still preparing?"

The second pair of purple eyes, those belonging to Siamun, narrowed. "And where are the servants who were supposed to take care of that?"

Atem huffed a fake annoyed sigh, pouting and crossing his arms. "I sent them away. I don't like their tastes. They wouldn't dare disobey me, would they?" Under his half-closed eyelids (something he had learned to do just to effect annoyance more), he saw his caretaker give out an exasperated sigh while frustratedly pulling his face with a hand.

"I'll let this one slip today, Prince," was Siamun's tired answer. "Seeing as you need to hurry up and get moving. But if you become excessively late again, I will add an extra two hours to your study time, understand?" Atem groaned, not liking the idea at all, though it would actually lessen his inactive time, but not his boring time. Siamun nodded, however, and turned around. "Now hurry and don't make the guests wait!" He closed the door behind him, leaving a disgruntled prince to sit on his bed and fix his hair, plotting ways of leaving the palace under the adults' noses. He had had enough. He needed to experience something new. This day was the last straw. He had to at least do something completely of his own will.

Finishing up with his hair and jewelry, Atem stood up, did one last look over himself, and nodded his own approval. He opened the door to his room, stepped past the threshold, and got crashed into by something, or rather…someone. The crash sent him onto the floor, his world revolving around him, and heard a high-pitched apology before being helped up.

"Oh my dear! I'm sorry, Your Highness!" It didn't even take him the second apology to know it was Mana, which meant the second apology would be Mahaad's.

"Mana! Look what you just did! I'm really sorry, my Prince!" This time, he felt someone brushing his clothes and hair. "You okay?"

"I'm really sorry!"

Atem stabilized himself, holding his head. "I'm fine!" Laughing, he added, "Come on, Mahaad. Don't give Mana a hard time!"

"But I--!" The brown-haired apprentice priest sighed. "Yes, Your Highness." Straightening up, he bowed, resuming his usually blank look that clashed hard and fast with Mana's cheerful one. "We were sent here to escort you to the dining room by Priest Siamun."

That sent Atem scowling. "I don't want to."

His reply, in turn, sent both the serious and the jovial faces to fault.

"Huh? What?"

"What, Your Highness?"

Atem sighed, looking at his two only friends: Mahaad, the apprentice magician who was a few years older than him, and Mana, the girl who was of his own age but was following Mahaad's footsteps. The two persons stared at him before having opposite reactions.

"Sure, Your Highness!" was Mana's grin.

"No way, my Prince!" was Mahaad's retort.

He pouted. Why did only a few people ever let him do anything? At least Mana was on his side. However, he knew Mahaad would never want to upset the prince of Upper Egypt. So, he smirked. Now that he thought about it, the two of them could actually help him out of the place. A plan forming in the young boy's mind, his smirk widened. "Let's go out."

Mana grinned while Mahaad grimaced. And Atem smirked in satisfaction. He may be young, but that did not bar his overly clever mind to come up with exciting but most of the time scary ideas. Like getting himself and his friends into trouble if ever the two apprentices were caught sneaking the Prince out of the palace in broad daylight under his orders, not to mention.

Unfortunately, Atem realized, Siamun would very well figure who could have sneaked him out of the palace. Mana and Mahaad _were_ the only ones everybody knew who were close to him.

Oh well. Atem's smirk widened. He would make sure his friends survived the day.

oOo

The royal palace of Egypt was isolated from the outside world by a very tall and solid wall that enclosed it in three sides, the fourth side being the one that was barred from entrance by the west bank of the Nile and the barren wall of the palace, with only a few windows made especially for enemy-spotting purposes. Of course, there were the sites of leisure activity for the women who loved to bathe, but at night these sites were closed off, except when any one of the royal family decided to take a dip so late at night.

Each side of the wall of the palace had a two-door gate in the middle, the largest one located at the front, the east side. Four guards went back and forth along these walls, two outside and two inside. The gates themselves were heavily guarded—three guards stood right before it outside, while three waited inside for any clever being who would get past the first line of defense. Any one caught sneaking into the palace would be immediately executed. To get inside, one needed to have been called or had an authorized permit to meet with the royal family. This applied to the ordinary citizens; the slaves were never allowed unless they were slaves serving the palace directly. The rich class needed only to show their faces and they were already in. In addition, they also did not just allow members of the royal family to go out, especially if they were the same age as the Prince.

And this is what the three friends needed to get past. The heavy security of the gates.

Three pairs of eyes peered from some bushes at the standing and patrolling guards of the front gate.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Your Highness," Mahaad asked with a thick voice. "You do know how much trouble we'll get into, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" the Prince whispered, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you two once we get back."

"Aww…" Mana added, all fidgety with eagerness. "Don't be such a killer!"

Mahaad only dropped his head and shook it in defeat. He could only make sure no harm came in the way of the Prince. The plan was actually simple. They only had to cover the Prince with ragged clothing (without stripping him of his royal ones, of course) so that he was hooded and would look like a very old man slouched and sensitive to light that he needed something to cover his eyes with.

The bad thing was the Prince looked like a small, old man. A VERY small, old man. He doubted this would even work. But the Prince was hardheaded. Hell if Mahaad dared interfere with a god's plans. He did not want to see disappointment to be written all over his friend and god's face. But then…he did not want to risk the boy's safety, either.

Maybe he could still change the Prince's mind?

When he had gone back to reality, however, Mahaad was too late. Mana had already gone to do her part, leaving him to sigh in defeat, the Prince to watch in interest, and the day to go from boring to complete catastrophe.

oOo

"Yahoo!"

The guards jumped at the sight of an ever-energetic Mana popping up in front of them, and their immediate on-guard relaxed to casual talk, thinking she would not do anything stupid. Hey, if it was Mana, then there was no problem lowering their defenses.

Oh, how wrong they were to trust such an innocent-looking girl.

"Hey, Mana," one of the guards greeted, leaning on the spear he was wielding. "What brings you here?" It was not everyday Mana would come down to the grounds just to greet them. Of course, not a day went by without them receiving a hello from her, but only when she was passing or had nothing left to do but give a bit of her attention to them. "Don't tell you're bored to death again? It's still so early."

The aforementioned apprentice magician simply giggled. "What? Is it so bad to try and be a little bit nicer for a change?" With that, she put on her puppy dog eyes expression, stooping to the ground and drawing circles on the sand. "Don't you guys like me?"

The guards sweatdropped at the gesture and averted their gazes from the girl, finding her antics funny and trying hard not to laugh. It was difficult to not find Mana hilarious; she always was, whether she meant it or not.

Seeing that no more could be said, the female apprentice magician simply sighed and stood up. "Jeez…you guys are really no fun… Oh well…" she shrugged in defeat. "We'll go then… Mahaad, Gramps!" she shouted back, and the guards were quite surprised at finding that Mahaad was also at the scene, guiding a hooded figure towards the gate. The person was slouched and, concluding from this and Mana's call, the guards could only assume that it was an old man. "Guys, meet my granddad," Mana cheerfully finished, gesturing to the aged person.

The guards smiled and nodded, opening the gates and stepping to the sides to allow the three people to pass through. They nodded at Mana's wave and Mahaad's smile, and prepared to close the gates again when a servant from the palace came running to them with this alarmed look on his face.

"The Prince is gone!" the servant shouted. "Search for him!"

It took the guards a moment for realization to dawn on them. Mana's unusual greeting, the cloaked person, the Prince's friends…

But, when they had turned to the trio, all they found was a cloak, the same one the old man was wearing.

oOo

Somewhere in Memphis, near the palace walls at the south, a very young girl was carrying a bucket of water to her house. Onyx eyes that were almost shut tight scanned the path on which she was walking. Ebony hair was messily let down to just past her shoulders, a result of the struggle she was undergoing in carrying that heavy object in her petite arms. It was not that she was not used to such tasks; it was just that the bucket of water was quite heavy for a girl her age. But everyday, it was a successful feat; no one in her family, her included, saw anything that had to be changed. And so, she kept being assigned to that particular chore.

Carrying buckets of water to the house for water storage was only one of the few housework tasks Lesta had. Everyday she had to complete each one of these chores, not because she would be punished if she did not do so—her parents were not so desperate—but because something needed would be lost for a day if even one chore would be missed. And because there was only she and her sister who could help her parents in meeting all the needs the family had, she had quite some work to do everyday. Not that she minded; there was nothing else to do, as she was not allowed to study like the boys while playing had a specific time. So chores were nothing to her compared to the boredom she would have felt, doing nothing at all.

Lesta was halfway to her home then, winding around the houses of her neighborhood, about to cross a street, when the commotion started.

"Get them!"

"Hurry! We can't let the Prince get away!"

_The Prince…?_ Lesta stopped in her tracks as she turned her head to the right, where a number of noises could be heard from and where a number of things could be seen flying. People were running her way, making chickens fly, triggering objects into the air, making others in their way spin, covering everything around them in sand, and being chased by guards from the palace.

Lesta sweatdropped in disbelief, stepping back to allow space. The hell if she wanted to get involved in this commotion.

Unfortunately, the three children who were being chased decided to turn at the corner where she was, while she was too loaded to move. As soon as they reached her, the smallest "fugitive," the seemingly younger boy, made contact with her and they crashed into the ground, followed by a splash of water drenching them both.

"Prince!"

"Your Highness!"

Lesta had not a moment to recover herself when she opened her eyes and found amethyst eyes nearly closed tight at the obvious difficulty of the situation, what with them on the ground and all. But, at that moment, she could care less even if she lay there the whole day.

Strangely enough, the sparkling stones were not leaving her sight, but she was sure she was not hallucinating, because she had not hit her head at all and those eyes were too real to be mere illusions. She swallowed, the shock and the hypnosis freezing her in her place, unable to avert her gaze from those jewels. Those amethysts were just too beautiful…

The amethysts were pulled away, and Lesta blinked, shaking her head. What had she just been thinking?

"Prince, we don't have time! We need to hurry!"

"I-I know…"

"Oh my gosh! You're wet!"

Lesta pushed herself off the ground, still shaken. And wet. And slightly cold against the gentle desert wind. What was happening? She examined the situation and almost sunk to the ground in frustration.

The bucket was on the ground, all the water gone.

Lesta grimaced at the sky. "Great," she breathed, before looking at the three kids. Now she had to return to get more water, which would require her more effort than the usual energy she put into the task. Apparently, she was ignored by the dangerous trio and by the heavens.

Which was not about to be the idea any longer.

"Let's go, Prince!"

"They're coming!"

"Come here!"

Lesta felt a hand pull her into a narrow alley, right into the arms of someone. "Eh…?"

Right on cue, soldiers came running by past the corner she had just been at. They came and shouted instructions, replies, more instructions, the crashing of objects, and then the stomping of toughened feet that was all over the intersection varied in volume until at last the last sound faded away into the distance in one direction.

The girl, amidst all this, had been breathing rapidly and shallowly, her heartbeat racing and pounding at her chest and temples. She was frozen, her ears sharpened, her eyes unable to look away from the ground. But the arms remained around her, providing warmth to her body that seemed to have forgotten how to retain its temperature and feeling.

She blinked, realizing that other than her heartbeat, she could hear the other person's heart beating fast, but much slower than hers. She could tell that he or she was much calmer; no wonder she felt protected.

It seemed to have lasted an eternity, that moment…

"It's safe now," a voice interrupted Lesta's blank thoughts, jerking her out of her reverie. The arms loosened around her, and she was able to pull away and look at the one who spoke.

The boy seemed to be older than her by a few years, three to four at most. He was dusting off his clothes with fluid, composed actions, calm but fast. Beside him was a girl her age, doing the same but this time with an air that fit her age, albeit too much. Lesta blinked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the sight. The two were clean, cleaner than she had ever been.

Something moved behind her, and she spun to face the person, realizing that there was only one person left who could have protected her for that long.

The Prince was in front of her, doing much what the other two were doing and looking still cleaner than her, despite being dirtier than the other two because of the earlier incident.

Lesta fidgeted in her place, growing more conscious by the second and not having the voice to talk. She turned her head from each person to another, waiting for anyone to speak.

"Well, that's that," the Prince finally said to no one in particular. "We've lost them. Now we've got to go to someplace where they won't find us for the rest of the day."

"And where do you think can that place be, Your Highness?" the other boy said, while the girl already looked like she was brainstorming.

Lesta decided it was not her place to be with these people, much less her right to suggest a place, even if she already had an idea. Turning around after a last glimpse at the Prince's thinking expression, she jumped when he spoke.

"Hey, you."

She turned, feeling quite numb at being spoken to by strangers. The boy was looking at her with lidded eyes, the other two looking with expectation. "You're not going to leave us here clueless on where we should go, are you?"

She swallowed, unable to look at them, especially him. "Well…I have chores to do…" She flicked her gaze at his face and sweatdropped at the expression of disbelief he had on it.

"You're not serious, are you?" the Prince exclaimed. "Even kids here have work?!"

"Aww…" the other girl sighed. "Does that mean you won't help us?"

Lesta scratched her head, feeling the heat of the scrutinizing eyes. "Well, I…"

"If I may, my Prince," the other boy cut in. "Let's not hinder her any further from her duties. I see we already spilled the water she was carrying earlier. Is that right?" he asked her kindly, and she nodded, feeling warm in the cheeks.

"But we'll be found if we don't get her help!" the Prince argued. "Come on! She probably knows the outside world more than we do!"

"Actually, that's not true," the brown-haired girl answered giggly. "Mahaad and I can practically go anywhere!"

The Prince paused, seemingly stumped.

Lesta, blinked at the scene guiltily. It was true she wanted to help them, but she had her chores to do.

"Well then…" she started, but paused when, as if a last resort, the Prince looked at her with puppy dog eyes and muttered, loudly enough for her to hear, "Please?"

Lesta gulped, looking helplessly at the other two, who seemed to be trying to repress their own emotions, before turning back to the Prince. She looked into those eyes, knew she could not deny the plea any further, and sighed in defeat. "All right…"

Almost immediately, the Prince smiled widely and whooped. His female friend grinned victoriously while his male friend sighed with a smile of relief.

Lesta shook her head in disbelief. So in the end, they were all hoping she would help.

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A/N: First chapter finished. Was it a long read? Hope it wasn't too boring, or out of character. Please review. Thank you.


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